Star studded affair awaits fans at PMM2019

KUALA LUMPUR (7 December 2018) – It will be a star-studded affair at the Perodua Malaysia Masters (PMM) 2019 presented by Daihatsu, as the top international shuttlers have confirmed their participation for the HSBC World Tour Super 500 event held at the Axiata Arena, Kuala Lumpur Sports City from the 15th to 20th January. The fans will certainly get their money’s worth as men’s world champion and numero uno, Kento Momota from Japan will aim to continue where he left off in 2018, in the hopes of upstaging defending champion of Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.

Rounding off the cast are Tai Tzu Ying (women’s singles world number one, Taiwan), Marcus Gideon-Kevin Sukamuljo (men’s doubles world number one, Indonesia) who are all set to do battle in the curtain raiser of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Tour Calendar.

Since the upgrade of the tournament to Grade 2 Level 4 of the BWF World Tour (Super Series) 2018, the upcoming 11th edition of the tournament will see more than 350 shuttlers vying for US$350,000 prize pool, a marked increase in pay-out and participants from last year’s tournament.

Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) President, Dato’ Sri Mohamed Norza Zakaria has seen this competition grow in leaps and bounds during his tenure and has high hopes that this year’s event will be one of the best since its inception in 2009.

“If you have been following the recent developments, BAM has not been bidding for any major tournaments other than the ones that we have been allocated with as we are more focused in increasing the quality of our existing tournaments.

“The tournament has grown exponentially and is now one of a total of seven Grade 2 tournaments under the sanction of the BWF, offering a total of US$350,000.

“For last year’s tournament, we managed to obtain a total gate collection of RM400,000 and PR (Public Relations) Value of RM13 million ringgit,” said Norza at the pre-event press conference held at the Malaysian Badminton Academy today.

Also in attendance were BAM’s General Manager, Michelle Chai; General Manager, Overseas Sales & Marketing Promotion Dept, D Brand Office, Daihatsu Motor Co. Ltd, Ichiro Otaki and Perodua Sales Sdn Bhd, Managing Director, Dato’ Dr Zahari Husin.

“Daihatsu have been around since 140 years and we hope to continue our cooperation with BAM, bringing Malaysian badminton to greater heights,” said Ichiro in his opening remarks.

Not forgetting the local players, except for Datuk Lee Chong Wei, who is currently in rehabilitation after undergoing treatment for nose cancer, Dato’ Norza is expecting them to better their podium finishes in 2019.

“We are looking forward to seeing our top players performing and I have high hopes that they will better the three podium finishes last year.

“I want the players to show their true mettle in this tournament including the back-up players. Our back up players should realistically at least target the quarter finals as part of their preparation in the Road to Olympics.” he added.

Among the fan favourites to look out for are men’s singles, Chong Wei Feng and Lee Zii Jia; recent double world junior champion, Goh Jin Wei; men’s doubles pairs, Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi.

Rounding off the cast are women’s doubles pairs, Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean, Vivian Hoo-Yap Cheng Wen and mixed doubles hopes, Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie and Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing.

For the record, Malaysia finished runners up in the men’s doubles through V Shem-Wee Kiong and two third/fourth places in the men’s singles through independent player, Liew Daren and mixed doubles (Soon Huat-Shevon Lai) in the previous edition.

Ticket sales were launched on 3rd December and are available to purchase at myticket.asia or through hotline 03-8605 0195. Follow Daihatsu Badminton on facebook at (www.facebook.com/daihatsu.badminton.en/) or visit the official website at (https://daihatsu-badminton.com) for all the latest social media updates, behind-the-scenes interviews, sneak peeks into the upcoming tournaments and various initiatives.